


just another man

by CosmicTurnabout



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Dirty Talk, Dubious Consent, F/M, Impregnation, Oral Sex, Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Porn With Plot, Shameless Smut, Solus zos Galvus is not a nice man, demeaning language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2020-07-27 07:22:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20042113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicTurnabout/pseuds/CosmicTurnabout
Summary: A Garlean courtesan learns that Solus zos Galvus means to ensure the survival of the royal line through less than conventional methods.Presumes Shadowbringers endgame knowledge on the part of the reader.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What can I say? This is trash. This is just pure, unadulterated trash.
> 
> Have a little warm-up fun before the main event!
> 
> (Also, fair warning that I’m probably not following Garlean lore to the letter here, and I know it. Oh well.)

Carine had heard the rumors.

It had been whispered that over the past few months Solus zos Galvus, illustrious ruler of the newly born Garlean Empire, had become overly preoccupied with the continuation of the royal line. He had not let this be known to the public at large, per se, but his household was more than savvy about his desires, and that sort of information had a habit of spreading quickly among the imperial elite. He was not married, and while his advisers and clerks had been urging him to seek a wife for over a year now, he seemed little inclined to do so. Instead, it appeared he favored taking a different course of action to solve this particular problem.

Every month, the royal palace hosted dinner and a ball for local nobles, after which there was a "selection" of sorts. The gossip went that following the meal, during the dancing, the emperor would insinuate himself among those on the dance floor and prowl across it to choose a mate for the night. 

This was not strange behavior for royalty generally; Carine had heard rumors of foreign rulers performing similar rituals. Even local Garlean nobles sometimes took mistresses among the peasantry on the estates they managed, especially if their own wives were aging or barren; it mattered not if the women they chose were betrothed or already married. Garlean society was highly stratified, and few things were denied to elites if they desired them. 

Carine Foster knew this all too well. She was courtesan to Remus fae Aquino, Garlean noble and member of Solus zos Galvus’s expansive court, but she was not overly familiar with the emperor himself. She'd seen him mostly from afar on short trips to the royal palace. He was handsome enough, she supposed, in a strange way. Shadowy golden eyes, a perpetual smirk, a streak of white in his short black hair. He looked quite different from the average Garlean, but he did dress beautifully, and that brought out agreeable qualities in him not otherwise apparent. Yes, he looked the part of an emperor at that, and he was still rather young for all his accomplishments.

As was his wont, Solus sos Galvus lorded these accomplishments over his wealthier subjects by throwing extravagant balls, and an invitation to one of these events was not to be taken lightly, especially if one wished to curry royal favor or secure a higher position in the imperial hierarchy. Admittedly, Carine was more fascinated by the emperor’s supposed “mating ritual” than anything else, and finally, after weeks and weeks of waiting, an intricately embossed envelope arrived at the Aquino estate pleading attendance at the monthly soirée.

At last, she had the opportunity to experience the emperor’s peculiar custom firsthand. 

**

Remus fae Aquino, Carine's patron, led her into the Garlean royal palace on the night of the ball. She linked her arm through his, standing up straight, trying her best to look the part of a nobleman's lady. While some courtesans simply graced the beds of their noblemen, Carine had been trained in several of the high arts, and was adept at conversation as well as the trade of the pleasure houses. She lived in relative luxury with Remus, though the palace of course trumped his estate considerably. She was always struck by the size of it, and now she was going to see more of it than she ever had before. 

Upon entering and greeting their fellow nobles, the men and women split off to share news as was customary. Carine did not like talking overlong with ultra-wealthy noblewomen, as a rule, but she wanted to catch up on the courtly gossip. She drifted between small pockets of women, admiring the gaudy furniture in the foyer and listening for choice snatches of conversation. Eventually, a group near an elaborate painting of the emperor caught her ear. 

"He's... he's really going to do that?" a young woman around Carine’s age was saying. "He's going to pick one of us?"

"Oh, he'll take any pretty thing into his bed," the woman next to her said. She was older, her graying hair swept into a high bun. "Hyuran women, Auri women, Roegadyn women... even men sometimes, I hear. He's choosy, though. No one can really get a firm grasp on his taste." 

"Surely the emperor of Garlemald can do as he pleases," another woman sniffed. "He's the most powerful man on the continent and he's not yet married, so I don't see the need to scrutinize his actions overmuch."

"Well, the thing is... some surmise he's aiming to get a child on one of the courtesans or noblewomen he picks to grace his bed each month," the older woman said. "It excites him. A different woman every time. They say the emperor dreads boredom more than anything else. This is supposed to allay that, I think." Her eyes glittered, and Carine saw her smile as she walked by. "And what do you suppose will happen should a lucky lady fall pregnant with his child? Lavish gifts? A new home in the imperial capital? Or something even grander? It could be there's a future empress among us tonight, and we don't even know it."

**

After a predictably sumptuous dinner, the dancing began, and Carine took a customary two songs with Remus before he’d decided he’d had enough fun. He was a burly man, tall and ungainly, and he didn’t take well to dancing even with years of practice under his belt. But as this was the emperor’s ball, it would be bad form to not appear on the floor at least once. 

Remus retired to their table as the string quartet struck up the third number of the night. Carine was letting a host refill her champagne flute when she saw him.

Solus zos Galvus was a little more than halfway across the ballroom, peering over the heads of the couples swaying and twirling around him. He looked calm--bored, almost--as he surveyed the crowd, his eyes flitting from face to face. Carine was suddenly intensely curious, her heart fluttering in her chest. When had he gotten there? It seemed as if he had appeared out of nowhere. And was this the ritual she’d heard so much about? What was he looking for? A pretty face? A voluptuous body? Was he imagining what the various women he inspected would look like in bed? Underneath him? On top of him? These were hardly foreign thoughts to her, given the life she was used to, but her face grew hot all the same.

The emperor was wearing his royal regalia, a heavy layered black coat with fur trim and a red sash. His arms were crossed across his chest, his hands white-gloved. He walked slowly down the middle of the room, obliging the dancers themselves to move to avoid colliding with him. They pretended not to notice him, not that it mattered overmuch. He did little to accommodate others on the ballroom floor. His gait was measured, calculated. He had a peculiar way of standing, as if his back pained him. As if he weren't used to his own body, Carine thought, but that was ridiculous.

Carine watched him for a minute or two before she realized that he had really gotten quite close--he was no more than fifteen or twenty feet away now. At this distance she could see his mouth moving slightly, as if he were talking to himself. His lips were... painted, it seemed like. That was strange for a Garlean man. 

Then he caught her eye. It was quick, so fast that Carine almost didn't register it at first. It seemed that energy rippled through the air between them. She felt fixed in place, the world moving sluggishly around her. Something _crackled_, and the emperor closed his eyes, almost as if he were drinking in the very atmosphere itself. Tasting it. When he opened his eyes again, he was still staring directly at her. 

“You,” he said, pointing. “You’ll do.” Carine heard his voice clearly through the music and the hushed whispering of the dancers around them. 

She flushed and shook her head, caught off guard by his forwardness. "Y-Your Radiance?"

In one swift motion, he closed the short distance separating them and grabbed her by the arm. He was quite a bit taller than she was, so he leaned down to make himself heard. His grip was tight, very close to painful, and a lock of his hair swept forward to tickle the side of her face. She froze.

"You're to come to my private chambers after the ball," he said in a low voice. His breath caressed her neck, hot and intense. "Tell the guard by the staircase over there that you have been personally chosen to attend to the emperor. You may tell your nobleman the same thing." He moved closer, and without warning, Carine felt a nip on her earlobe, sharp and fast. He had _bitten_ her. "Now, what was he called again? Remus...?"

"Remus f-fae Aquino, Your Radiance," she barely whispered. He was so very close. His touch, his breath, his hair brushing her cheek just below her eye. Her earlobe stinging. All of this churned together to kindle something low in her belly, and she twitched at the sensation. It was a pleasant, familiar feeling.

"And surely _Remus fae Aquino_ would not employ a talentless courtesan," he said, darkly amused. "What gifts do you possess? A penchant for song? Dance? Painting?"

"I--I..." She swallowed, her tongue heavy in her mouth. Her cheek was nearly pressed to his. "I can sing."

"That will do very well, then." He pulled back and blinked at her, his face almost neutral but for the slightest hint of a smirk. "As I said, your nobleman will be more than happy to comply with his emperor's request. He will understand; you'll not be back until the morning. Have him collect you in the palace foyer tomorrow at the ninth bell."

He let her go then, and just as quickly as he'd approached her, he cut his way through the dancing courtiers and nobles to disappear into the back of the hall leading to the emperor's chambers. Several couples looked to her and then to the departing Solus zos Galvus, seeming to sense what had just occurred. She tried to divert her gaze without being too conspicuous about it, taken aback as she was. Of course, most everyone here--except perhaps some of the servants--would be aware of the emperor's "ritual." It was a nigh-monthly event, after all.

She stood there on the dance floor, one hand playing absently with her earlobe. The energy she had sensed crackling through the air had almost completely vanished, to the point where she thought she’d imagined it. But no, no... that had felt too real to be imaginary. She knew full well Garleans could not conduct aether the way other races could, but for a split second, _something _had connected them. 

_How did he know who I was? _she thought._ He singled me out as a courtesan. Certainly I don’t dress nearly as well as most of the noblewomen do... but he also seemed to know Remus..._

It could not have been magic. That was simply impossible. But there was most definitely more to Solus zos Galvus than met the eye. 

_And something about me caught his attention_. _Though it’s anyone’s guess as to what that might be. _

Now that she considered it... Remus had made sure she was dressed in the finest silks tonight, and that she had access to all of the best paints and colors to pretty herself with. Her long brown hair had been curled with heat, sweeping down her back in rich ringlets. She'd been allowed the rose water bath as well, a luxury mainly reserved for highborn ladies of the court. On top of all that, Remus was usually extremely jealous with her, but... Solus zos Galvus was the emperor. That altered the situation quite a bit.

All of these things seemed to point to one conclusion. Had Remus been _aiming_ for this outcome tonight? It was not outlandish to think that there might be something good in store for the nobleman whose courtesan best pleased the emperor.

She shuddered, and she found her face growing even hotter as her thoughts gained pace. The couples around her resumed their dancing, turning away from her at last. Her mind was spinning. She found she could no longer concentrate on the ball, so she headed to one of the long banquet tables for a bite to eat. Perhaps some protein would help her stay on her feet, stay focused. 

Arriving at the banquet table, she plucked a fig from a plate, popped it into her mouth, and chewed, willing control over her teeming emotions. She’d eaten four of them before the strange energy following her finally dissipated.

**

An hour later and the ball was winding down, couples taking their seats to finish their drinks before departing. Servants dimmed the candles around the large room, setting the diamond chandelier to glinting in the low light. Carine sat at her table with Remus, tapping her foot and nervously bunching her dress in her hands. She had no reason to think Remus would reprimand her in any way for what she was about to tell him, but she was hesitant all the same. She was used to meeting _his_ expectations, but it was no small thing to please an emperor in bed.

What would happen if she was not to his tastes? He could easily have her killed out of spite. No, that was silly. She had heard no rumors of anyone being disposed of for failing to please the emperor... in _that_ way, at least. 

But there were other possibilities. Her thoughts drifted to what the older noblewoman had said earlier that night. What if she fell pregnant with his child from this? What if she was the lucky one? 

_Or the unlucky one?_ a voice echoed in the back of her skull. 

She decided she would cross that bridge when she came to it. 

Resolved, she turned to Remus and opened her mouth. They had not spoken at length since the emperor had come up to her during the dancing. 

"Remus, I-“

"I saw him approach you," said Remus abruptly, his voice gruff. "I know what that means. I’m to come for you tomorrow morning." He had always been a man of few words, and Carine had never been more glad of it. She took a deep breath.

"So, then..."

The servants were bustling about now, cleaning off the tables near them, and Remus got up. "Go ahead. I'm sure he told you what to do."

Carine nodded, then rose and walked around the table to stand near him. "Thank you. He did.” 

He gave her a soft glance, then a squeeze on the shoulder that said all. She shot him one last thankful look, then started toward the back of the hall, toward where a beautiful spiral staircase led to the floors above. 

Toward where the emperor was waiting for her. 

Carine was confident. She’d been shaken by the emperor’s selection process, but this was something she _knew_, after all. She knew how to please men, both in conversation and in the bedroom. She had done it so many times, with Remus, with other noblemen before him. This was really not so intimidating when she broke it down in her mind. 

Solus zos Galvus might be royalty, but at the end of the day, he was just another man. And in her years as a courtesan, Carine had found that all men worked in pretty much the same ways. 

She stopped in front of a well-dressed guard stationed at the bottom of the staircase. When he saw her, he gave a quick bow and said, “You’re to proceed up the stairs. Once you reach the landing, turn right and knock on the door at the end of the hallway. Go nowhere else.” 

So he’d told the guard to look out for her. Of course he had. She found it somewhat strange that he didn’t want the guard personally escorting her, but then again, the emperor was on the strange side himself. 

“You needn’t worry about me,” she said, and the guard nodded curtly at her. 

_Just another man,_ she thought. 

Head held high, eyes shining, she ascended the staircase. 


	2. Chapter 2

The hallway leading to the emperor’s private chambers was long, lined in red carpet and rich oak paneling. No paintings adorned these walls; the hallway’s length and relative austerity in comparison to the foyer and ballroom suggested that its sole purpose was to separate the emperor from the rest of the palace. To provide a barrier of sorts. Breathing room, perhaps? Carine wasn’t sure. 

The walk certainly provided time for her to think. She was nervous, it was true, but all she had to do was repeat her mantra like a drumbeat in her head: Solus zos Galvus was a man like any other. There was certainly the possibility that his tastes in bed ran toward the odd or even the extreme; it mattered little, though. She had been with many men of assorted backgrounds, and in the arena of sexual proclivities, the richer ones were more often than not either wildly unconventional or shockingly bland. She was therefore prepared for a wide range of eventualities. 

After passing several branching corridors she knew better than to explore, Carine reached the end of the hallway. She was greeted by a gargantuan door, easily twice her height, inlaid with Garlean symbology and what she assumed was the Galvus family crest: stars arranged in an ellipse around a large red moon. This had to be it. 

She knocked. A beat, then a tired-sounding voice called out, “You may pass.”

Carine opened the door, pushing with the full force of her body against its weight. It swung wide to reveal an appropriately lavish room. Elegant furniture stood against the walls, rugs with intricate interlocking patterns covered the floor. A tall window in an alcove to her left faced the palace’s west courtyard—based on her recollection of its layout—though it was too dark to see much of anything now. A bookshelf sat perpendicular to the alcove, full to bursting with thick books sporting glossy, embossed spines.

Protruding into the middle of the room was the bed, beautifully carved from Gridanian mahogany and etched with figures whose significance she couldn’t begin to guess at. She found Solus zos Galvus flung across it, looking for all the world like one of those figures, naked but for his gloves and gray undergarments. She doubted he was stretched out for her enjoyment, though he was rather lithe. It seemed less like he had been waiting for her and more like she had just happened to catch him lounging.

He was propped up on red pillows with gold tassels, his hands clasped across his chest. She noticed he was actually lying on his coat; it was similar in color to the bedspread, and had blended in well with it. Her eyes were drawn to his gloved fingers, his thumbs flicking against each other. 

“You’re earlier than I expected, scholar,” he said lowly. 

Carine shook her head, confused but refusing to be thrown completely off guard.

_ I suppose he’s not intending to ask my name. Typical.  _

_“‘_Scholar,’ Your Radiance?” 

The emperor looked like he was enjoying a private joke. “You study the arts and world history to bolster your conversation skills, yes? Then it stands to reason that you are a scholar. No matter that you... provide other services into the bargain.” 

For some reason, Carine doubted this was the whole story behind her new nickname. But noblemen and elites often had peculiar ways. “You’re not wrong, Your Radiance. Unless... you would have me call you something else here as well?” 

Solus zos Galvus gave a curious pause before replying. He seemed to be thinking the question over. 

“...You may call me ‘Your Radiance,’ scholar.” 

_So no first names with this one_. Carine figured it was best to be sure. Some of the upper-class men she had been with preferred to be called by their given names in bed, sometimes even nicknames or affectionate, embarrassing pet names. Admittedly, she had never been with the ruler of a nation before, so she had nothing with which to compare the emperor’s preferences. First time for everything. She smiled ruefully. 

The emperor snorted, his eyes locked on hers. There was no crackling energy between them this time, but Carine could feel a certain... something in the air. A heaviness, if she had to use a word to describe it. It was not necessarily unpleasant, but it was impossible to ignore. Like a fly buzzing around her head that she had to resist the urge to swat. 

“You seem pleased with yourself,” said the emperor, noting her expression. “But know this. I don’t enjoy conversing with your ilk overmuch. Oh?” He must have caught the disdain that flashed across her face before she could stop it, his smirk twisting into a dark smile. He was  _amused_. “Oh my. You mistake me. Do not be offended, my  _dear_. I speak not merely of courtesans, but the entirety of the Garlean nobility. Men and women alike. You are mostly insufferable, the lot of you. Puffed-up wildfowl pretending to be peacocks. I’m paying you a compliment, really; those I choose for this purpose are the most tolerable of my subjects. They can at least offer me something worthwhile.” 

Carine swallowed, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. Well, if nothing else, it was somewhat gratifying to know that every other “attendant” he’d selected probably had to deal with this sort of condescension too. 

“What would you have of me then?” She wanted to hear him say it. 

“I would have you pleasure me. And if I get a child on you, all the better.” 

Carine had expected forwardness based on how he had approached her in the ballroom, but she had not anticipated this forthright divulging of his plans. She must have looked puzzled, because Solus zos Galvus chuckled. 

“Oh, don’t _tell_ me you haven’t heard the gossip,” he drawled. “It’s all those squawking buffoons talk about at court. They assume they have me figured out, they do, though they know less than they think.” He closed his eyes, as if exhausted by the effort of telling her this, then opened them again. “Well, it’s not as if it _matters_. I haven’t exactly been trying to keep my motives a secret. Of course you know why you’re here tonight.” 

“I _ do _ know why I’m here,” she said, proud that her voice did not waver. “I’m simply surprised by your... candor, Your Radiance.” 

“Then there is nothing else to say on the matter.” The emperor tented his fingers in front of his face, tapping his lips absently with them. He looked excessively comfortable. 

A volatile mix of emotions bubbled right beneath her skin; unnerved as she was, confused as she was, she was enticed, there was no denying it. At the same time, the strangeness of it all was salient. The selection process, the haughtiness, the lazy ease with which he spoke to her. He was not taking any of this as seriously as she had expected. Was his goal really the continuation of the royal line? Perhaps, but...

Curiosity got the better of her, and she said the first thing to come to her mind. 

“Your Radiance, forgive my presumption, but how do you know I’m not taking medicine or herbs to avoid pregnancy?” 

_He must be aware of what I do, _she thought_. __He must be aware of how courtesans operate._ She usually took precautions to prevent falling pregnant in the course of her duties, but accidents could happen, and she had admittedly not taken any precautions before this tryst. 

He blinked at her slowly, like a waterbird aiming to spear a sluggish fish. He did this for so long that Carine almost thought he wasn’t going to respond, but finally he shrugged and said, “Then I will not get a child on you. There are plenty of other women in the empire.” 

Fair enough. She inclined her head. “And if I did fall pregnant, how would you know any child of mine were actually yours?”  There were just so many ways this plan of his could go wrong, so many ways it could backfire. She couldn’t help following up. 

The emperor gave a bark of laughter. “My, but you _are_ inquisitive. Your concern fair moves me. Rest assured that I will know.”

That was that, then. He was not going to explain further. Who or what was this man? She was not sure she would ever get to the bottom of it, but while she was here, she had to concentrate on what she had come to do. She would have time for rumination later. His eyes, half lidded, burned into hers. Bizarrely, he seemed to be waiting for her to make the next move. Carine cleared her throat.

_ Well, at least he's not awful to look at. _

“I understand that Your Radiance does not want a conversation partner, necessarily, but do you wish me to... speak freely?” she asked. “I happen to know that some men enjoy a talkative woman in bed.”

“A good question for once.” Solus zos Galvus sounded surprised. “Yes. Do speak freely, but choose your words with care. I would have a show from you, scholar.” 

“What does that mean, Your Radiance?” 

“Simply this. Be filthy.” He held up his index finger as if to accentuate the point. “Let me know how much you enjoy pleasing your emperor. What else is this mummery for?”

Mummery? That struck Carine as an odd turn of phrase, but this _was_ the emperor speaking. 

“Very well, Your Radiance.” 

Solus zos Galvus made a gesture toward her, one she understood immediately, implicitly.

She knew what to do. 

Slowly she lifted her hands to the straps of her dress. With careful fingers she eased them off her shoulders, letting the silk cascade down past her neck to reveal her breasts. She held her dress bunched below them, chancing a glance at Solus zos Galvus through hooded lashes to find him looking mildly appreciative at this display of skin. So far so good. She pulled the dress down off her body, letting it pool at her feet. Stepping out of the neat silk nest she had made, she plucked her heels off and tossed them with some degree of care toward the small cabinet at the foot of the bed. When she straightened back up again, she was completely naked before him, hair loose and tumbling down her back. 

He looked her up and down, tapping his fingers together in front of his nose. His eyebrows were slightly arched. 

“Oh,” he said, “you’re really quite beautiful.” 

Carine said nothing to this, just nodded. That was more than she had expected to get out of him at this juncture. She stepped carefully toward the bed, the wooden floor gloriously cool under her bare feet. A breeze ruffled the curtains on the far window, throwing wild shafts of moonlight across the room. Solus zos Galvus looked eerie in the milky blue of the shifting moonbeam, his eyes catching the light in bright twin arcs.

He stared as she approached, his mouth a thin line. "You... really have no idea who you were, do you?"

She paused, the heaviness in the air oppressive. She was nearly on the bed now, her hands pressed against the edge to propel herself onto the mattress. Was it worth asking questions anymore? Would he even reply coherently if she did? She had just gone over this in her mind; she thought of the strange half-answers to her inquiries just a moment ago, and decided against it.

"I'm simply myself, Your Radiance." 

The emperor sighed. "So, no then. Never mind. Go on."

She obeyed, feeling the mattress give beneath her palms. As she crawled across the bed, the emperor--without much ceremony--slid his undergarments off his hips, pulling himself free. She was somewhat gratified to see that he was about average in size for a Garlean man. What most surprised her--and, if she were being honest, excited her--was the way he took the tip of his left-hand glove in his teeth, yanked, and shook his hand free of it. He did the same for the other glove, placing them gently on the unused pillow next to him. Only then did he take his member in hand to give it a few languorous strokes. Carine watched as the skin bunched up a bit at the tip, only to relax as he pulled it back down to the root again. His expression, if not particularly amorous, was at least neutral now.

“Well? If you're not going to remember anything interesting, do what you do best,” he said, looking directly into her eyes.

_ All I needed to hear. _

She crawled the last few feet to him, placing her hands on his naked legs, tentative at first, then more firmly as she leaned forward. His eyes widened slightly at her touch. Surprise at her brazenness? Perhaps. Her hands swept up and down the insides of his thighs, moving ever so leisurely to his waiting cock. It gave periodic bobs of anticipation as she got closer, precum beginning to shine at the tip. She licked her lips. He'd wanted a show, after all. She saw him swallow, but not out of nervousness, far from it; from the way his pupils had blown black, he was simply caught up in the sensuality of the moment.

Something occurred to her. Was he not used to touch? This kind of touch? That couldn’t be. He must have had hundreds of women at this point, being well into his thirties. 

Whatever the case, her nimble fingers found his cock hard and ready for her. She stroked it a few times, as he had, before bringing her face close and licking lightly at the head. She locked eyes with him to see if he enjoyed this. He was breathing a bit harder, propping himself up on his elbows to get a better look at what she was doing. He was biting his lip as well. Oh, yes. He seemed to particularly enjoy this aspect of lovemaking. 

Carine pressed her lips to his shaft and closed her eyes, taking the head of his cock slowly into her mouth for the first time. He gave a small groan, and then, to her surprise, she felt a hand hook under her chin. It was not particularly gentle. 

“That feels lovely, admittedly,” he said with some difficulty, “but—like _this_, if you please.” 

He fisted his hand roughly in her hair and began to pull her up, then down, then up again, showing her the speed he preferred. Carine moaned around his cock as she adjusted to his jerking. He gave a satisfied snort, settling back into the pillow and clasping his hands across his chest. 

“Noblewomen, courtesans, it matters not,” he murmured. “You all turn mewling and eager when it comes to this business, every last one of you.”

_At least I knew what I was getting into, more or less_, she thought. 

Carine continued to tongue the head of his cock, lapping at his precum, using it to lather him from root to tip. This was a technique she had long used to ease the process, and to bring her men to completion faster. She continued at this pace for a straight minute or two, slicking his cock with her tongue, filling her mouth with him, feeling him tremble lightly beneath her. 

“Does Your Radiance want me to see how much I can fit into my mouth?” she asked when she came up for air. 

“Oh. By _all_ means.” 

Carine promptly obliged, opening her mouth and descending on his cock, feeling it pass her lips and teeth, slowly gauging how much she could take while breathing through her nose. She kept her eyes on the emperor’s as she did this, watching his nostrils flare at the sensation of his cock being completely engulfed. This was something she was particularly good at. 

She heard him hiss through his teeth when his tip hit the velvet of the back of her throat, her nose nearly touching his pelvis. Quickly, before she could even think to gag, she worked her way in reverse up his shaft, fondling his balls gently as she did so, enjoying the small twitches she was eliciting from him. 

“You really d-do that _quite_ well, scholar,” he said, and the slight stutter in his voice sent a bolt of heat to her core. 

_A man after all. I knew it._

She smiled around him. “Yes, Your Radiance.” 

“You love this, don’t you? Being used by another for carnal enjoyment.” 

“Mm. Yes, Your Radiance. I love your cock. I love how it feels in my hands, in my mouth.” 

She knew exactly what men liked to hear. She made lewd sounds as she sucked at his tip, setting his eyes to fluttering. Then she turned her attention to his balls, sucking one, then the other into her mouth, alternating between her tongue and hands to stimulate him. 

He murmured a string of obscenities in a low rumble. 

“Yes, the pleasures of the flesh are quite exquisite,” he said with measured breaths. “Really one of the most tolerable things about the mortal experience.”

More extremely strange talk. Maybe this was just what happened when his mind became addled with lust. Carine had heard many an odd thing from men in the throes of pleasure—and what was she to expect from such a grand oddity as Solus zos Galvus?

For a while she continued to minister to him in this way, occasionally leaving his cock to bite softly—then roughly—at his inner thighs and stomach. He liked this just as much as her mouth on his head, and he reached down every now and then to tweak a nipple or to scratch at some exposed part of her body. She answered in kind, digging her nails into his legs, his sides, marking him with her mouth. He did not mind this either; in fact, his hips bucked up when she did it, stuttering and shaking as she clawed him and sucked bruises into his skin. The emperor was not particularly avant-garde in his pleasures, but he seemed to enjoy a bit of pain. 

Eventually, right when she felt he was getting close, he yanked at her hair in an obvious bid for her attention. “I’ll not spend in your mouth, scholar,” he rasped. “Get on your back.” 

Carine lifted herself off of him, releasing his cock with a wet popping noise. She resisted the urge to smile; she suspected he had been about to spill, and had summoned great control to tell her to stop. That was somewhat mollifying. She fell back, his coat surprisingly soft against her skin. The emperor shifted so that he was supporting himself over her now, his hands planted on either side of her body, his member still hard and pulsing. He gave a small, tight-lipped smile, the golden corona of his eyes shining around his pupils. Another breeze from the window coaxed his solitary earring into a spin near his neck, sending tiny diamonds of light leaping across the bed, the walls, the ceiling. 

"Yes, this is perhaps the best way to pass the time ," he said. "Aside from sleeping, that is. You're certainly entertaining enough, for not fully knowing yourself."

She was not sure how to respond to this. For someone who apparently did not relish conversation, Solus zos Galvus seemed to love the sound of his own voice. 

After a beat, she said, "Your Radiance knows best. What would you have of me now?" He did not answer right away, so she slipped a hand between her legs, feeling the wetness there. All of the foreplay had excited her to the point where she could barely keep still, and she shook slightly beneath him, hoping he would explore her himself. She doubted he would go as far as bringing her to her pleasure, but she was aching to be touched, to be filled. 

He followed her hand with his gaze, blinked, then met her eyes again. He looked like he wanted to laugh. The heaviness hung in the air, thick and strange.

“I suppose you think I will return the favor in some fashion. Highly presumptuous, especially for one of your... standing. Normally I would refuse, but your squirming has me intrigued.” 

To her great surprise, he shuffled down her body until he was right above the juncture of her legs. He hovered close over her, smirking, his breath hot and immediate on her skin. “Very well. I will taste you.” 


	3. Chapter 3

No sooner had Solus zos Galvus spoken those words than he was lowering his head to her mound, mouth open. Carine nearly jumped at the sensation of his tongue probing her core and beginning to lick her softly, lazily. She had almost thought he wouldn’t do it. She closed her eyes, moaning soft encouragement as he set to his task. This was not an incredibly rare thing—some noblemen were fond of showing off what great lovers of women they were—but men offering to pleasure her with their mouths were infrequent enough that it was always a pleasant surprise. 

For a handful of moments he ministered to her folds, ever so slowly delving deeper and deeper. His nose pressed into her skin with each turn of his head, his tongue moving in slow circles over her most sensitive areas. He did not make much noise as he did this, just continued to lap at her center, every once in a while catching the skin of her thigh gently in his teeth. There were even moments when he would meet her eyes as he did this, but there was something alien and uncomfortable there, and she found herself diverting her gaze to the ceiling after a few seconds. 

At any rate, it did not take Carine long to realize that he was... not particularly good at this, all told. He was inelegant, a bit fumbling in his movements—not uncertain, exactly, but too leisurely to generate more than a constant low thrum of pleasure in her. It was nice enough, but it seemed he was doing this more for his own enjoyment than for hers. Not that she had expected much else. 

Still, it felt good to have him touching her where she’d been aching for touch for so long, even at his loping pace. She reached down, groping for strands of hair to grasp before finally finding the top of his head. She fisted her fingers into his hair and pulled as he had done to her earlier. He gave a surprised grunt at this, looking up at her from the apex of her legs. 

“That... that will not do.” 

Carine’s eyes widened. He’d seemed to be enjoying the biting earlier, but perhaps this was too much. Too controlling on her part. “Apologies, Your Radiance.”

“Yes, well.” He did not look overly annoyed, really, just slightly inconvenienced. His gaze flicked to her mound, then back to her. “Is that enough for you then?” There was a lilt of laughter in his voice. 

“Oh.” She was caught off guard. She didn’t think he’d actually ask about his performance. “I-it was lovely, Your Radiance,” she said, cursing her stutter.

“Hah!” He barked a cold laugh. “You needn’t lie. I suppose it wasn’t sufficient. I’ve never been good at that, you know.” 

His frankness shocked her once again, but mayhap it shouldn’t have. He had said this night was to be about his pleasure, after all. The wonder was that he’d even tried in the first place. What need had he to be particularly skilled at pleasing his lovers, men and women alike? 

“Your Radiance needn’t fret,” said Carine, sliding her body further underneath his. She was so used to telling men what they wanted to hear, the words came sweet and easy as honey to her tongue. “I am ready to take you. You need only say when.”

She felt his cock throb against her leg at that. “Already?” he said lazily. He reached a hand down, feeling for her entrance. She gasped as he swept a finger against her folds, slipping two more inside of her soon after. He had not brought her to her pleasure with his mouth, but she was now so wet she could hear his skin moving slick against hers, an obscene sound in the opulent room. 

“Hmm,” he said, “it seems I’ve a needy whore on my hands.” 

Heat spiked through her. She was used to such talk from noblemen at their lustiest heights, and in a way, it excited her when men were this open and filthy in their wants.

She wriggled beneath him. “That’s right. I’m ready for your cock, Your Radiance.” 

“Mm. You’re certainly wet enough for it, scholar. The idea of taking my seed has you positively sopping.” 

“Yes,” she said, face flushed. Against her better judgment, she began scratching at his skin, scoring light red marks into his arms. “Please, Your Radiance. I need you now.” 

He took his fingers out of her, looked thoughtfully at her essence coating him. Then he rubbed those fingers together, a peculiar smile on his face. “You  _need_ me?” His voice was somewhere between amused and mocking—more the latter than the former, she thought. “Very well, scholar. Spread your legs.” 

She was more than eager to oblige, opening her legs in full invitation, the satin bedsheets shifting cool and soft against her skin. He leaned down over her, his chest pressing against hers, and lined his cock up with her slit. With a short grunt, he pushed into her, meeting little resistance from her entrance. A few seconds later he was fully inside of her, a moan escaping him at the feeling. The emperor propped himself up on his elbows, taking a stance that would make it easier for him to thrust. His eyes were dark, his mouth slightly open. No scheming now, only carnal enjoyment at its purest.

“Fuck me, Your Radiance,” she whispered. Solus zos Galvus pulsed against her walls, as if in reaction, and met her gaze. There was a strange, longing look there, like he was seeing someone else in her face. 

“What did you say?”

“I said,” she positively hissed, “fuck me.” 

The emperor blew out a breath, as if that command had kicked the air out of him. “Let it never be said,” he muttered, “that I do not heed my subjects’ wishes.” And he began to plunge into her with a vigor belying his quiet tone, her head nearly banging into one of the bedposts with the first few snaps of his hips. 

The emperor’s lovemaking was decidedly violent, his thrusts long and deep enough that Carine could practically feel the ache in her thighs she’d be carrying for days afterward. He had hooked his hands over her arms, his fingernails gouging her skin, and every now and then he would bend down to kiss her, rote, as if he were simply obeying a script. Well, the kisses were more like to bites if she were being honest, and after a few of them, she tasted the coppery tang of blood on her tongue. A hand to her lip confirmed that he had indeed bitten into her skin deep enough to draw a small well of blood, and he noticed it, smiling, some of her blood smeared across his own lips. The pain was hardly enough for Carine to ask him to stop, however; it was invigorating almost, electrifying. This particular position was standard for other noblemen she’d been with—some liked the woman on top, though most seemed to find it emasculating—but the intensity of their coupling added something to it, enhanced the experience. 

“I love taking your cock, Your Radiance,” she purred after a particularly rough shot to her core. “I want you to spill your seed inside of me.” 

“Filthy woman,” he said, but he sounded amused. “Whore, really, is more fitting. Is that what you are, scholar?” He gasped, his thrusting wilder, more staggered. “My whore?”

“Yes, Your Radiance.”

If he kept up this pace...

Carine buried her head in his coat to muffle her moans, the smell of him intoxicating. It was heady, masculine, but with a hint of something floral. Very much his scent. 

“You needn’t be quiet,” Solus zos Galvus said, and she looked away from the coat to see locks of hair loose and strewn over his eyes. “Remember. I want to hear it.” 

He urged her onto her knees now, the better to ensure she couldn’t stifle her moans, and began plunging into her from behind. His hips slapped against her thighs over and over, the wet sounds of their coupling filling the room. He did not seem much concerned about privacy, however; he was speaking no longer, fully ensnared in the throes of pleasure. She could tell by his ragged breaths and shallow, off-kilter thrusts that he was close, and she had kept her promise, moaning and sighing with abandon at the urgency of his rutting. Eventually Carine felt herself clenching around him, nearing a climax of her own. She reached between her legs, applying that extra bit of pressure she needed to peak.

“The emperor’s whore is ready to take his seed,” she said, her voice low, and she turned to give him a hooded look.

His face twisted into an expression almost pained as he gave one last snap of his hips, spending deep inside of her. Seconds later she keened as a hot wave of pleasure rolled through her belly and down her legs, leaving her slack and listless in its wake. She slipped off his cock and collapsed sweaty and panting onto the sheets, face pressed back into his coat. She could feel the wetness of the emperor’s seed dripping down her leg, as well as the steady ache of bruises that now marked her. 

A beat, and then Solus zos Galvus gave a low hum of satisfaction. The weight of the mattress shifted as he moved to the edge of the bed.

“Mummery this may be,” he said, sighing, “but there are worse roles a mummer could play.” He prodded her to the side and slung his coat over the bedpost before settling down under the sheets, his body propped up agains myriad pillows. Carine followed suit, but did not dare slip an arm through his or rest against his shoulder. For all his eccentricities, the emperor did not seem like one overfond of a post-tumble snuggle. 

She wondered how long he would allow her to stay here. She was used to sleeping in bed with Remus, of course, but some noblemen were rather quick to shoo their consorts back to their own chambers when they had finished with them.

Blessedly, the emperor saved her further awkwardness by speaking first. “You performed admirably, scholar.” 

“Of course, Your Radiance. It is what I excel at.”

“Hardly a boast when it is true, I suppose.” She watched as he reached over for something on the bedside table to his left and came back with a pinch of tobacco and a curved pipe covered with etchings inscrutable to her. Clenching the pipe in his teeth, he stuffed the tobacco into the chamber and snapped his fingers. A tiny point of light sparked in the air over the bowl for half a heartbeat, then faded away as he puffed at the pipe. 

That was undeniably magic—aether-fueled magic—and there was no Garlean alive who could manipulate aether. All Carine could do was stutter in disbelief. “Y-Your Radiance?” 

“What?” he mumbled around the pipe, his head lolling over to meet her dumbfounded expression. Then he looked at the smoking bowl. “Oh, this. Yes, fine. You see that I can manipulate the flow of aether.”

He said this in the same tone he might have told her chocobos were yellow. Carine had been slightly uneasy before, but now a wild kind of fear rushed through her, filling her mind and tightening around her throat. Who  was this man, really? If he were truly full-blooded Garlean, he would not be able to use magic. Something was horribly wrong here, and for the first time that night, she wondered if she would leave this room alive. 

The emperor smiled darkly around his pipe, looking at her sideways. If he could not see her fear, he could sense it. “Peace, scholar. You’re hardly the only person to share my secret. I don’t silence those who learn things I freely admit to them. And besides,” he spread his hands, “who would believe you?”

She swallowed, the fear tamped down but still simmering in her gut. “Who...” She paused, not sure if that was the right word, but she could not think of a better option. “Who are you?” 

“Solus zos Galvus, emperor of Garlemald,” he said, puffing at the pipe. “At least for now. I have been many other people throughout the long, foggy expanse of my existence. First, though, in a time beyond time, I was a sorcerer.” 

“A sorcerer.” Her mind was hazy. She felt strangely pliable, like his talking was the only thing that could keep her sanity intact.

“Furthermore, in times of eld,” he continued, “_you_ were a scholar. You don’t remember this, but we unsundered do. Really, it’s lucky you can’t recall your life as an ancient, because to you, it truly was another life. A time before you were split. When you were hale and whole, a complete, unshattered being.” He laughed mirthlessly. “Yes, it’s quite preferable that you remember nothing. It would be a horribly cruel thing to know perfection, only to have it snatched away from you forevermore.” 

Silence floated between them then, broken only occasionally by the whistling of the emperor pulling on his pipe. Tendrils of smoke twisted out of the bowl, ghostlike. The tobacco gave off a strong but pleasant smell, something like cloves. 

He was mad, pulling a trick on her, or he was telling the truth. And given all she had experienced tonight—the heaviness in the air, the strange comments, the honest-to-gods magic—she was beginning to believe that his speaking truth made the most sense. 

“Why tell me all this?” Carine asked quietly, watching the smoke curl to the ceiling. 

Solus zos Galvus turned. For the first time, his expression had the slightest hint of softness to it. “I suppose I grew tired of  not  talking. I don’t expect you to understand, not fully. In many ways, this is like to...” He gestured absently with the pipe. “Like to talking to a phantasm.” She knew she should have rankled at the comment, but confusion seemed to have subdued every other feeling in her. 

“I am... a specter to you, then.” 

“You might say that, though there is little and less you can do about it. And again, you are hardly alone. Eons ago, a goddess saw fit to shatter all of existence into ten and three shards. Most beings alive now are forever incomplete due to that act of  _infinite_ wisdom.” The emperor spat those last two words out like a curse. “I was able to escape the goddess’s wrath intact, and I have been passing through different bodies looking for a solution to her cruelty ever since.” 

New horror nudged through her veins at the thought that whoever this was, he was a parasite currently inhabiting the body of Solus zos Galvus. 

_And I have lain with him_. _Breathe, Carine. Breathe._

It did not seem like he would kill her. It seemed, more than anything, like he just wanted an excuse to talk. Which could lead to who knew what, but she saw no other recourse than to hear him out.

“And that is why you can...” She still found the words hard to articulate. “Perform magic.” 

“This body could not manipulate aether previously, it is true. _I _ can, however. And you could, too, likely. If you remembered.” 

“I thought you said I’d never remember anything of my past life.”

“I did. But fool that I am, I dare to harbor the most minuscule sliver of hope that I am wrong. That one day, _one_ of you will recall  something. Anything.” 

“One of you?” Realization dawned on her. “You mean... every one of your ‘consorts’ is...”

He stared at her, his expression utterly unreadable. The monthly selection. The scanning of the ballroom floor. The wispy feeling that he was probing her soul with but a scant glance.

“Bloody hells,” she said. It was all she could think to say. 

“You see now why I am so particular.” 

“...Yes.” She swallowed, but her throat was dry. “So what is the point of this, then? I suppose you don’t really plan to get a child on me. Or anyone else.” 

“Oh, you misunderstand.” He took one last pull before setting the pipe back down on the bedside table, exhaling a circle of smoke with some relish. “That  _does_ rather concern me, actually. Despite what it may seem, the continuation of the royal line can only help my cause. What’s more, I will concede that mortals have a much more viscerally pleasurable way of making love. Even I get caught up in it. The ancients had quite a different method. A headier method, but very pleasant as well. It involved aetheric tendrils, soul colors. You wouldn’t understand.” 

It was true. She could hardly get her head around anything he was telling her. What was his game here? Earlier he’d made it clear that he hated conversing with mortals, that they all but disgusted him in general. But now he could not stop talking about the past, about these ancients. Hells, he was fair close to reminiscing.

Was he  _lonely_?

“Now. Do you remember what I asked you before? What your talents were? You said you can sing.” And he fixed her with a deadly serious gaze. 

“Sing something for me.” 


	4. Chapter 4

_A song?_ In spite of everything, Carine’s face went hot. She’d just lain with this man, and this was what was making her shy?

What could an ancient being want to hear, anyway? Not the bawdiest song currently going around Garlemald’s taverns, surely. She blinked, trying to think as she willed the heat out of her cheeks.

“Nothing coming to mind?” he drawled, his golden eyes glinting in the low light. He sounded slightly amused at her embarrassment.

“I—I know mostly field songs,” she said. “Rustic old tunes, things I learned as a girl.” She’d grown up on a large farm not far from Garlemald proper. Her father had taught her a handful of his working songs, and Remus sometimes found them calming at the end of a long day at court.

_But he doesn’t want that. He can’t want that. This is an emperor, Carine. He doesn’t care about what the common folk sing._

“I didn’t summon you to hear a shepherd’s ditty,” the emperor sneered, confirming her thoughts. “I want to hear something with real color. Soul color.”

She hadn’t the damndest notion of what  that meant; maybe he’d deluded himself into thinking he really was talking to another ancient now. It wouldn’t have surprised her at this juncture. His irritation cowed her, and she simply sat and stared, head buzzing, trying to recall anything that could be of interest to him.

After a few long seconds of silence, he seemed to take pity on her.

“Fine,” he sighed, swiveling lazily to face her. He lifted a hand, and made a gesture akin to a conductor guiding his orchestra. “Have you ever found yourself humming a tune seemingly out of nowhere? Something that you’ve never heard before? Something that comes... on a whim?” He snapped his fingers, and the air seemed to press in on her of a sudden, the light in the room shifting ever so slightly. With the shifting, her mind felt a great deal clearer than it had before. Sharper. Like a veil she’d never been aware of had been lifted from her psyche.

“I...” She picked through her memory, unsure at first of what she was looking for. Then, true as lightning, faster than she ever could have expected, she had it. Exactly what he’d asked of her, sparkling like an exquisite bauble in her headspace. “Yes. Yes I have.” How could she have forgotten? Whenever Remus was out, whenever she had the time and leisure to tidy the estate, she often twirled about the large paneled rooms at intervals, singing softly to herself. It was nothing she’d ever heard before, just snatches of random, newly formed melody that came easy as honey to her tongue. There’d been one tune in particular, sweet and sad, that she’d found herself returning to more often than not. That was it. That was the bauble. She was fairly certain that it would please the emperor.

“Very well, then.” Solus zos Galvus twisted back into the pillows, burrowing even deeper into comfort. “Sing it for me.”

“Right here? In... the bed?”

“Yes,” he said, utterly serious. “I’d prefer you be close, scholar.” He crossed his arms over his bare chest with an air that brooked no argument. She did not think he was making a jape at her expense—not this time, anyway.

Carine nodded. She felt awkward, preparing to sing while sitting there against the pillows—it was far easier to sing on key when standing, easier to hit both high notes and low. But she suspected that the emperor was not looking for a performance worthy of the opera house here, but rather something... familiar. Something ancient.

She shuddered in spite of herself.  _Can I remember something that’s never happened to me_? She would have to see.

Closing her eyes she drew in breath, and when she opened them again, she was singing the lonely song that had come often to her in Remus’s empty estate. She did not sing in the common tongue—it was not any language, exactly, but vocalizations, sounds that fit the melody of the song in her head. Her singing filled the room, echoing off the ceiling and walls, covering the slight sound of wind rustling the curtains. She had not cared about bothering any neighbors before, and she cared even less now.

While she sang, she made attempts to glance at the emperor, but always found her cheeks flaring as she took more of him in, forcing her to turn away. What she did notice was him staring at her in a manner he never had before, his gaze shimmery at the edges, his eyebrows quirked up in light curiosity. He did not look amused, really—he was somewhere between contentment and melancholy, if she had to describe it. A strange mix, to be sure, but appropriate considering the circumstances.

_He’s trying to commune with his fellows__,_ she thought.  _If he’s one of the last ones, what’s the point? He’s looking for them in us, but he’ll find shades, nothing more. Futile_. The idea stirred something in her. She thought of her father in the field, singing as the evening sun silhouetted him in red. Almost instantly the image of her father changed to that of a robed figure, impossibly tall, standing with their back to her and looking up at the moon in a newly dark sky.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” The words were “sent” in a low thrum, not spoken aloud. The figure threw their arms wide, accentuating the view. “The sky at night.”

Carine sang, and the melody continued to conjure images for her, murky and fleeting, images that did not flit through her headspace as much as careen across it. She felt the weight on her still—the weight of the emperor’s magic, she knew now—and wondered if that was enhancing the experience, or if it was merely residue from his earlier spell meant to jog her memory. Whatever the case, she sang on, and images came.

Tall, lithe robed figures walked in threes across a vast plaza, paved in polished white stone and bracketed by flowering trees. The moon above bathed the scene in smudged blue light. There was a flash, then a scene of smaller robed figures—children?—frolicking about a red sphere with four stubby legs. The children nudged at the sphere, booted it lightly with their feet, giggling all the while. Their parents looked on, heads tilted in calm satisfaction. Another flash, and she saw an amphitheater crowded with ancients, watching two of their own debate something of grave importance. More flashes, more images. Soaring buildings that curled and looped as they reached for creamy pink clouds. Strange creatures she’d never seen before, in myriad shapes and colors. Indoor pools and gardens, with bright sunlight streaming in and potted greenery overflowing on stacked shelving.

Was she sharing his memories? Remembering things from her previous life? She had no way of telling, and it did not seem likely that the emperor would divulge any answers. Each time she closed her eyes, afterimages of tall, robed ancients were left on her eyelids, standing out in black and white. Their heads bobbed slightly as they spoke, their bodies contorted at times with laughter. These specters... they had lived? They must have, she realized. They were so bold, so fleshed out in her mind’s eye; even knowing they were long gone, she felt a certain affinity for them, as if looking at a painting of a relative dead decades past. She could not get over their height—they were so tall, taller than the emperor—and she could not see their faces, but she could feel their spirits, the weight of their souls. Their inquisitiveness, and their kindness.

Finally, she sensed she had come to the end of the song. It was not a sharp, certain knowing, but more of a feeling that came gradually, and her voice dropped as she sang the final notes. The melody wound down into a sort of humming, wind through fragile branches. When she stopped, she realized the hair on her arms was standing up. It was no colder in the room than it had been when she’d started. Quickly she rubbed at one offending arm, embarrassed at the unconscious reaction.

Solus zos Galvus was silent beside her for a long while. The seconds seemed to drag by, agonizing, marked by the noise of a clock’s pendulum swinging somewhere in the room. Strange—she hadn’t noticed that sound before.It was comforting somehow, filling the void and giving her something to concentrate on while she waited. His face was as impassive as ever, no hint of anything in particular on it.

“Do you recall anything else?” he finally asked, his voice a touch softer than it had been.

Carine thought about that. The magic seemed to have played its part; she could think of no other melodies, conjure no further images. “No,” she said.

“I see.” The two words had more weight to them than the magic ever had. There was a profound sadness somewhere behind his eyes, though there was no telling it from his expression alone.

_So how did I know that? _ she thought. The emperor blinked at her, mouth tight.

“When ancients lie with humans,” he said, “it seems we oft generate a bond with them. Something that lets us work our magic a touch more easily. Sometimes it produces unexpected side effects as well. Not to worry. It will do you no harm.” He laughed, like that made it any less of a terrifying prospect.

She could feel herself beginning to sweat in spite of the cool breeze through the window.  _I can sense something of his emotions, meaning he can probably sense mine as well. How is that something to laugh about?_

“To my knowledge, though, I am the only unsundered ancient who has deigned to lie with mortals. More’s the pity. I really have nothing to compare against.”

“So,” said Carine, fiddling with the bedsheet, “I assume there’s nothing I can do about this. This... link, I mean.”

“Likely not. Even I am not entirely certain how it works. At any rate, it will make it easier for me to find you if your womb quickens.”

_If your womb quickens._ He said it so off-handedly, as if it hardly mattered at all which womb his child came from. Carine clenched the sheet in a fist, suddenly angry at herself for having given in to this... arrangement so easily. Now that she knew the truth of it—or as close to the truth as she was ever like to get—it was clear there was little in the “bargain” for her. The best she could hope for was a comfortable future for his child, if she were to bear it. She doubted she would get anything else out of this.

_Did you really think you could have become empress? That you would bear his child and he would sweep you off your feet into a life of untold glamor and riches_? Somewhere, deep in her heart, she knew she had. She’d always thought of herself as realistic, the level-headed farmer’s daughter who’d climbed up Garlean society rung by rung with her own two hands, but this had given the lie to that rosy self-image. _Stupid, stupid girl._

“S-so...” Sweat trickled down her temples,mingling with the hair hanging over her ears. That abrupt anger had made her hot inside. Prickly. “What happens if I do fall pregnant? You take the child? I never see them again? Leaving me to tear my hair out over it?” She shook her head. “Your Radiance? Whatever it is you are.” She nearly started at her own boldness. Maybe it was the magic—or the knowledge that Solus zos Galvus was not entirely human—that spurred her to those words, but she meant them.

Abruptly she was lifted from the bed, the sheets sliding off her legs like water. She squealed as she was jerked upright, her arms flailing helplessly; the force that held her was like a vice, squeezing her so tightly she could barely breathe, though there was no evidence of anything pressing against her skin. It was cold, that force, and it felt as if it yearned to plunge down her throat, to plumb her body itself. It was all she could do to keep from gagging, it shoved so urgently against her mouth. Just when she thought it was going to rip her jaw open and claw its way inside, she was tossed several feet through the air, then dropped roughly onto the silk pile of her dress beside the bed. The force dissipated as swiftly as it had enveloped her.

“Listen, wretch,” said the emperor, for once sounding truly angry. He looked down his nose at her, holding one hand in that conductor’s stance; he had not even bothered to get up. “You will take what I have shared with you and be glad for it. How dare you speak to me so.  You, fretting over your fractured half life as if it were worth something.”

Carine’s elbows hurt where they’d slammed into the floor, legs crumpled underneath her. Her tongue felt like it was stuck to the top of her mouth.

“After all this,” she managed, “you’re going to just kill me?”

The emperor snorted. “No, of course not. That would be akin to self-sabotage. If you must know, yes, I will take the child, should it be born to you. It will be fine; I will seek you out and see to it myself. But you would do well to remember to whom you speak. I’ve become too gentle with you all, I think. Maybe a touch of fear would put you in your proper place.” He lashed out again, whipping her across the face with the force of his magic, leaving her cheek hot and stinging.

“There,” he said. Carine bit her lip to hold back a grunt of pain, tensing for another strike, but it did not come. The emperor just kept looking at her, eyes dark as the void.

She waited a few seconds longer for the blow she thought would follow, legs locked and eyes squeezed shut, but nothing happened. She cracked her eyes open with an intake of breath, and saw only a slightly less irritated Solus zos Galvus staring into the middle distance. At this angle she could not see the rest of his body, but he appeared to still be lying propped in the bed. Sensing safety for the moment, she wrenched herself into a sitting position, taking her dress in hand as she did so. There was a kink in her neck from the way she’d landed, and her elbows throbbed in protest with each minute movement of her arms. She wobbled to her feet and began to slip back into her dress; she had been hoping for more answers after the song, but as she’d earlier suspected, this... man was dangerous. Perhaps she had better not wait for his leave. Perhaps she had better just go.

“Have you nothing else to say, scholar?” he asked as she straightened to smooth wrinkles from her dress. “You seem to have learned to watch your tongue, but you’re more talkative than most.”

She jumped at his voice, still sore from the slap of stone-hard aether across her face, still chilled from the feel of it nigh crushing her body. She was afraid of facing those magicks again, but for some reason she believed it when he had said he would not kill her. Not outright, anyhow. 

_Talk. Don’t talk. What does he want? It’s as if he himself doesn’t even know_. It was infuriating.

“You’ll never connect with anyone this way,” she said flatly. Tears ached behind her eyes, and she was proud she was able to hold them back. “Not normal men, not... shattered ancients, or whatever you want to call us, Your Radiance. You’re right, we’ll never stand on equal footing. As long as you can squeeze me into nothingness with little more than a thought, what hope do I have?” She shrugged. “I can only leap at your beck and call. How could we ever see eye to eye?”

He muttered something under his breath, but his tone did not indicate concession. A few seconds later he snorted, blowing the white lock of hair away from his face. When she heard him make another irritated sound she paused instinctively in slipping her heels back on, thinking he had something else to tell her.

“Yes, yes. Well.” He sounded like he was considering something. “You may leave. Again, I have ways of contacting those of you I have need of, should it come to that.” He punctuated the last few words with an impatient fluttering of the hand.

Carine nodded, eyes downcast as she turned to go. Her mind was blank, adrift in dull anger edged with fear. She did not know what to think anymore; she was only certain that she wanted to be away.

But something prodded her as she turned, and before she realized it she had asked, “Did you even get anything from... from this?” She felt sick, having asked it. Wanting to know about that world she’d glimpsed. Wanting to know _everything_.

The emperor’s eyes widened for a moment. There was an empty aura to him of a sudden, as if she could put a hand on his shoulder only for it to pass right through into air.

“You... remembered more than anyone else ever has. I have not heard that song in millennia.”

He sounded like he wanted to say more, but thought better of it. Carine took a few steps forward; she was nearly out.

“They were beautiful.” She swallowed. “Those images.” She wasn’t sure why she had said it.

“The world was much more beautiful when it was whole. I hope that any child of mine will be able to share in it, one day.” There was a ring of truth to his voice, but it did little to comfort her. Then, so quietly she could barely hear it: “Do you really recall... nothing else?”

Carine paused with her hand on the door. Behind her, the emperor seemed to have stopped breathing. The wood was cool beneath her fingertips, ridged and jagged from the way it had been worked into the Galvus family sigil. She looked at that sigil, that symbol of power and prestige, and thought of everything she’d wanted out of this night and would never receive, everything she now ached to know and never would. Then she thought of the strike of solid aether across her face, how easily it could have split her skull if he’d wished it. Her stomach turned over; he felt bad for  _himself_. That was all.

_Let him be lonely_, she thought.  _Let him be sad and bitter. Let those beautiful memories be the only thing he draws comfort from_.

—icy aether surrounding her, pressing in on her, making it so she could barely breathe, so tight, so thick—

She shivered.

_And please, let that be enough._

“No,” she said coldly, her free hand clutching instinctively at her stomach.

The emperor was silent for a beat. She thought mayhap he’d sensed the sharp edge of her feelings, but he did not retaliate.

Instead, he gave a great sigh. “More fool me for expecting it. Go, then, and let me be.”

Carine did as she was bid, heavy door swinging shut behind her to leave Solus zos Galvus alone in the room once again.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this and feel so inclined, please join this lovely book club and yell about villains with me! https://discord.gg/FB8hqkD


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